UW Sustainability has launched a Sustainability in the Arts initiative this quarter! The goal is to look at how sustainability can be addressed both behind the scenes in different arts departments, venues, materials etc. as well as how themes of sustainability can be used as content in artworks. The initiative is still in its brainstorming phase and a lot of its outcome will be determined by input from students, faculty, and staff.

The survey below is to gain a sense of interest in a Sustainability in the Arts initiative and what people would like to see come...

National Collegiate Recycling Competition Returns to the UW Seattle Campus

For the fifth year, the University of Washington is competing in RecycleMania — a friendly tournament where national college campuses compete during the course of eight weeks to see which can reduce, reuse and recycle the most on-campus waste. The UW will take on nationwide universities including Pac-12 rivals Arizona State University, Stanford, University of California Berkeley, University of Oregon and Washington State University.

Under the guidance of EcoReps and...

As a freshman living on West Campus, when Nola Peshkin stopped by District Market to pick up food or other items she was often surprised by the behavior of her fellow shoppers.

"Growing up my family was really adamant about always bringing reusable bags to the grocery store, but when I came to UW I was just really surprised and disappointed in the number of people who would use paper bags when it didn't seem necessary," Peshkin said.

As this year's executive director of Students Expressing Environmental Dedication (SEED), Peshkin wanted to find a way to encourage shoppers to...

On January 24th the Sustainability in the Arts initiative officially kicked off - thank you to the engaged students and faculty who showed up!

We brainstormed different aspects of sustainability both in behind the scenes operations and in creative content, as well as some of the challenges that artists face when trying to make environmental art. 

The group find that there were many opportunities to address sustainability behind the scenes, such as: mailing, energy use at venues, local food, waste, programs, parking/transportation, sustainability funds, lighting, compostable...

The Washington State Recycling Association has student scholarships to their annual conference available to undergraduate and graduate students in Washington. This is an opportunity for students to network with leading industry professionals, expand their knowledge of recycling and waste reduction, and prepare themselves for a career in a rewarding and innovative field.  

This year's WSRA conference will be held May 7-10, 2017 in Pasco, Wash. To apply, go to the...

This summer, UW Study Abroad and the College of Engineering are offering a study abroad program that stays close to home.

"Sustainable Water in a Wet Region" is a field study course that looks at many aspects of water - water resource, drinking water, and wastewater - and takes students to locations on the Olympic Peninsula. The course focuses on environmental implications of climate change predictions for temperate rain forest and wet forest regions, using the Pacific...

Have you seen Zipcars around campus? Zipcar and other car-sharing services are a good complement to your U-PASS membership, providing access to vehicles when they are needed without requiring you to own (and park) a car.

There are several Zipcars available on campus, and UW students can join at reduced rates. Car sharing reduces demand for on-campus parking and can alleviate congestion on the roads. The program also includes everything you need to get around campus like gas and insurance, they also offer...

One aspect of the UW Sustainability in the Arts (SITA) initiative involves looking at art as a way to communicate about sustainability. Art can play a huge role in sustainability through embodying environmental themes and supporting activism as well as bringing people together on these issues. One event I was particularly interested in that effectively brought together art and activism was the recent DeFund from DAPL mass action.

UW Sustainablity is proud to be a partner in the new UW Livable City Year program, which connects UW students and faculty with local communities to work on real-world challenges around livability and sustainablity for a full academic year. UWTV profiled some of the students working on LCY projects this fall in this video: